The Butt Room scene symbolizes Gene’s denial of injuring Phineas. At this point in the story, Gene uses denial to keep himself from guilt and regret. This is symbolized when he says “I had to take part in this, or risk losing control completely” (Knowles 89). In this case, denial and guilt is represented by losing control of the conversation. If he does not take part in it, which represents not denying it, he will lose control. Another way his denial is more directly represented is when he says, “All I did was drop a little bit ...a little pinch of arsenic in his morning coffee” (Knowles 89). Here he is directly denying that he injured Finny to the group, but he is also denying it to himself. He is trying to avoid the question so he does not have to answer it, which he never ends up doing. The flow of the argument also symbolizes his denial. The conversation starts with an unwanted topic, Finny’s injury. Gene then brushes off the question with humor, and leaves as soon as he can to avoid it. This represents how, while in denial, thoughts quickly shift from the topic trying to be avoided. The conversation in the Butt Room symbolizes Gene’s denial through both the dialogue, and the flow of it.
Throughout the Summer Session, Gene and Finny were high in the "ranks of popularity" at the school. I think that Gene was only up there because of his friend, not because of his own popularity. The scene with Quakenbush and the Butt Room shows how he is adapting to having "equals." Without Finny there, Gene was being pressed about the accident and gave in to peer pressure, even though he told a false story. He managed to turn the situation around by targeting another boy who he describes as: "He had a very weak foothold in the Butt Room crowd, and I had pretty well pushed him off it" (Knowles 91). The Butt Room scene I think demonstrates Gene's life at Devon without his supporting friend.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephen that Gene denies hurting Finny in the Butt Room. The other boys in the Butt Room have accused Gene of pushing Finny off of the branch when he thinks, "I had to take part in this, or risk losing control completely" (Knowles 89). Gene wouldn't just lose control of what the boys in the Butt Room thought of Gene and what they thought he had done to Finny, but Gene thinks that if he tells everybody that he wasn't the cause of Finny's injury, he will begin to believe it himself and he will no longer feel the pressure of guilt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Fiona and Stephen. I think that Gene is denying the fact that he hurt Finny. The boys in the Butt Room are wrong, but in a way, they are right. "Then you just pushed him off, I'll bet" (Knowles 91), said one of the kids. While Gene did not push Finny off, he did make Finny fall. He denies this fact the whole time while he is in the Butt Room by avoiding the question completely. He says he has to study French and leaves. I think that the reason Gene denies the truth is because he is afraid of it. No one really knows that Gene made Finny fall, but Gene. If Gene keeps lying, eventually he will believe that he really did not make Finny fall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with stephen. I think Gene is trying to push thought of Finny from everyone's minds. He is denying the fact that he pushed Finny and tries to make a joke out of it to avoid the question all together. Right after that, he quickly makes an excuse to leave. I think Gene is also trying to convince himself that he didn't cause Finny to fall. He just wants to forget the whole thing and is hoping everyone else will forget it too. Brinker's comment of "trying to weasel out of it with a false confession" (knowles 90) hit a little too close to home for Gene as he began to make up an elaborate story and turned on a younger student. I think Gene is afraid to admit to himself that he caused his friend to fall.
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